Holidays Calendar for December 16, 2018

Kazakhstan became the very last country to declare independence from the Soviet Union after its dissolution. This event took place on December 16, 1991 and this anniversary is annually celebrated by the Kazakh nation as Independence Day.

National Day is celebrated in Bahrain every year on December 16. This public holiday was established to celebrate the accession of Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the first Emir of Bahrain, on December 16, 1961.

Victory Day is a public holiday in Bangladesh, that is celebrated every year on December 16. Various events are organized across the country to celebrate the end of the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

Many Western Christian churches observe Advent, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christmas. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. The third Sunday of Advent is known as Gaudete Sunday.

Ministry of Emergency Situations Workers' Day is observed in Azerbaijan on December 16. This professional day was established by President of Azerbaijan in December 2006. The date of the holiday was chosen to celebrate the foundation anniversary of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Azerbaijan in December 2005.

Research Day is a professional and cultural observance in Iran held on the 25th day of Azar (December 16 in the Gregorian calendar). The main goal of the holiday is to raise public awareness of the importance of supporting and developing science and technology in Iran.

Chocolate can improve the taste of just about anything, or so the chocoholics think. December 16 is the perfect day to figure out if this is really true because it is considered the National Chocolate Covered Anything Day.

This Day in History

2009Died: Roy E. Disney, American businessman, senior executive for The Walt Disney Company for a long time. He was the last of the Disney family to be actively involved in the company.

1995The name of Euro, the currency of the eurozone, was officially adopted.

1982Died: Colin Chapman, English engineer and inventor. He is remembered as the founder of Lotus Cars, British racing and sports cars. The company is currently owned by Proton Holdings Berhad, Malaysian automobile manufacturer.

1981Born: Krysten Ritter, American actress and musician. She is best known for role as Jane Margolis on the drama series Breaking Bad. She also appeared in films What Happens in Vegas, 27 Dresses, Confessions of a Shopaholic, She's Out of My League, and Big Eyes.

1980Died: Colonel Sanders, American businessman, founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken (now known as KFC), the second world's largest restaurant chain after McDonald's.

1969Born: Adam Riess, American astrophysicist, known for his research in using supernovae as cosmological probes. In 2011 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.

1965Died: William Somerset Maugham, British author and playwright, one of the most popular writers of his era and reputedly the highest paid author during the 1930s.

1960A United Airlines Douglas DC-8 and a TWA Lockheed Super Constellation collided over Staten Island, New York. All 128 people aboard the aircraft and 6 more on the ground were killed.

1950President of the USA Harry S. Truman declared a state of emergency after Chinese troops had entered the fight in support of Communist North Korea.

1949Born: Billy Gibbons, American musician, producer and actor, best known as the guitarist of the American rock band ZZ Top.

1947William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain built the first practical point-contact transistor.

1946Born: Benny Andersson, Swedish musician, composer, best known as former member of the Swedish pop group ABBA.

1937Two American criminals Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempted to escape from Alcatraz, the American federal prison in San Fransisco Bay. Although the officials stated, that the criminals perished in the attempt, their remains were never found. This escape shattered Alcatraz's reputation as an escape-proof prison.

1928Born: Philip K. Dick, American author and philosopher. He wasn't recognized during his lifetime, but when his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? was adapted to the film Blade Runner his works became popular among the general public.

1926Born: Arthur Napoleon Raymond Robinson, Trinidadian lawyer and politician. He served as the 3rd President of Trinidad and Tobago from March 19, 1997 to March 17, 2003.

1922Died: Gabriel Narutowicz, Polish politician. He was the 1st President of the Second Polish Republic, serving from December 11, 1922. His presidency lasted only for five days, because he was assassinated while attending an art exhibition.

1921Died: Camille Saint-Saëns, French composer of the Romantic era. His best known works include opera Samson and Delilah, the Third Violin Concerto, the first Cello Concerto etc.

1920An estimated 200,000 were killed by the earthquake magnitude 8.5 that hit the Gansu province in China.

1917Born: Arthur C. Clarke, British writer, inventor and explorer. He is best known as the co-author of the screenplay for the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, that is widely considered to be one of the most influential films of all time.

1903The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, claimed by many as the best hotel in India, was opened in Mumbai to the guests for the first time.

1889Born: Kim Chwa-chin, South Korean guerrilla leader, who played an important role in the attempt of development of Anarchism in Korea.

1883Born: Gabriel-Maximilien Leuvielle, better known by stage name Max Linder, French actor of the silent film era. His on-screen persona Max was one of the first recognizable recurring characters in film and he's also cited as the first international movie star.

1859Died: Wilhelm Grimm, German author, the younger brother of Jacob Grimm, the famous Brothers Grimm. Together with his brother Wilhelm he collected and published, thus popularizing, many folklore tales, including Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel.

1783Died: Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer, singer and educator. He was immensely popular in his time and nowadays he is best known for his prolific operatic output. He was a key figure in the development of opera seria and the 18th-century music.

1775Born: Jane Austen, English novelist, one of the mostly read authors in English literature. Her best known novels are Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park and Emma.

1707Mount Fuji erupted for the last time. The eruption produced no lava but it released some 800 million cubic meters of volcanic ash. Seismologists closely watch Mount Fuji for the upcoming eruptions.

1687Died: William Petty, English economist and philosopher, who became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell. He is famous for developing efficient methods of survey the land that was to be confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers.

1431Henry VI of England was crowned King of France at Notre Dame in Paris.